Telomeres

The proliferative lifespan of normal mammalian cells is limited by intrinsic controls, which desensitize the cell-cycle machinery to extrinsic stimulation after a given number of cell divisions. One underlying clock driving this process of 'replicative senescence' is the progressive erosion of chromosome telomeres, which occurs with each round of DNA replication. This appears to trigger growth inhibition via activation of the tumour suppressor gene (TSG) product, p53, and the consequent up-regulation of the cell-cycle inhibitor p21WAF1.

Mutations in human CuZn superoxide dismutase (SOD) have been associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). Although leading to many experimental advances, this finding has not yet led to a clear understanding of the biochemical mechanism by which mutations in SOD promote the degeneration of motorneurons that causes this incurable paralytic disease.

The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

The question of whether aging - the process that converts fit adults into frailer adults with a progressively increased risk of illness, injury, and death - is under genetic control is ambiguous, and its answer depends on what one means by aging. Natural selection can select for genes that retard aging, but only in species and niches where the value of prolonged survival outweighs its costs. Although the form aging takes can be affected by variations at many genetic loci the number of loci that moderate the pace of synchronized decay may be far smaller.

During the course of normal respiration, reactive oxygen species are produced which are particularly detrimental to mitochondrial function. This is shown by recent studies with a mouse that lacks the mitochondrial form of superoxide dismutase (Sod2). Tissues that are heavily dependent on mitochondrial function such as the brain and heart are most severely affected in the Sod2 mutant mouse.

Shortening of telomeres occurs with cell proliferation and correlates well with ageing in humans. Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein, and is the body's most widely studied mechanism for extension of telomeres to circumvent cellular ageing. Telomerase levels remain at low or unmeasurable levels in most somatic cell populations with only a few exceptions. However, in transformed cell populations, upregulation of telomerase or some other mechanism for telomere extension is required for immortality.

The potential link between aging and insulin signaling has attracted substantial attention since several decades ago, on the basis of evidence including age-related increase in incidence of insulin resistance, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in accelerated aging syndromes and lifespan extension by caloric restriction in rodents. In addition, the intensive investigations in C.

Caloric restriction (CR), undernutrition without malnutrition, remains the only experimental paradigm that has been shown consistently to extend lifespan and slow aging in short-lived species. Decades of research, mostly in laboratory rodents, have shown that CR consistently extends lifespan, reduces or delays the onset of many age-related diseases and slows aging in many physiological systems. In recent years gerontologists interested in CR have focused on two unanswered questions. 1) What is the relevance of this nutritional paradigm to human aging?

Radiographics: A Review Publication of the Radiological Society of North America, Inc

Computed tomographic (CT) cystography has been advocated in lieu of conventional cystography in the initial work-up of patients with suspected urinary bladder trauma. CT cystography was applied to a classification scheme for bladder injury based on the degree of wall injury and anatomic location and demonstrated characteristic imaging features for each type of injury. In bladder contusion (type 1), findings are normal.

Carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine), an abundant naturally-occurring dipeptide has been shown to exhibit anti-ageing properties towards cultured cells, possibly due in part to its antioxidant/free radical scavenging abilities. In this paper the results of an investigation on the effects of carnosine, at the physiological concentration of 20 mM, on oxidative DNA damage levels and in vitro lifespan in peripheral blood derived human CD4+ T cell clones are reported.

Human cancer cells, unlike their normal counterparts, have shed the molecular restraints to limited cell growth and are immortal. Exactly how cancer cells manage this at the molecular level is beginning to be understood. Human cells must overcome two barriers to cellular proliferation. The first barrier, referred to as senescence, minimally involves the p53 and Rb tumor-suppressor pathways. Inactivation of these pathways results in some extension of lifespan. However, inactivation of these pathways is insufficient for immortalization.